WASHINGTON — Stephen Strasburg hit his first major league home run and struck out eight in five innings to carry the Washington Nationals past the Baltimore Orioles 9-3 Sunday.

Strasburg sent an 0-2 pitch from Wei-Yin Chen into the Baltimore bullpen in the fourth inning to put the Nationals ahead 5-3. After dusting off his home run trot and returning to the dugout, Strasburg responded to a curtain call by waving to the crowd of 41,918.

The hard-throwing Strasburg singled and scored in the third inning, then followed a shot by Jesus Flores with one of his own in the fourth.

Known more for his pitching than his hitting, Strasburg (4-1) excelled at both. The right-hander allowed three runs, one earned, four hits and a walk in his first career appearance against Baltimore. He retired the last 10 batters he faced.

Since returning from elbow ligament replacement surgery last September, Strasburg is 5-2 with a 1.99 ERA in 14 starts.

Danny Espinosa also homered, and Bryce Harper drove in two runs and scored three to help the Nationals avert a three-game sweep by their regional rivals.

Chen (4-1) yielded six runs and eight hits in 4 1-3 innings for his first major league loss. The Taiwan native was vying to become the first Baltimore starter to begin his Orioles career with five straight wins since Jimmy Key in 1997.

■ Tigers 4, Pirates 3

DETROIT — Max Scherzer struck out 15 — the most by a Detroit pitcher in 40 years — and the Tigers rallied with three runs in the seventh inning to beat Pittsburgh.

Scherzer (3-3) threw 115 pitches in seven innings and was done for the day when the Tigers came back from a 2-1 deficit while he was still the pitcher of record. Alex Avila hit a two-run single through a drawn-in infield to put Detroit ahead.

Pittsburgh scored a run in the ninth off Joaquin Benoit, but he held on for his first save.

■ Marlins 5, Indians 3

CLEVELAND— Josh Johnson twice worked out of jams to earn his second straight win and help Miami win an interleague series with Cleveland.

Johnson (2-3) allowed one run and five hits over seven innings as Miami took two of three from the Indians and improved to 14-5 in May, the best record in the majors this month.

Mike Aviles also homered and drove in two runs for Boston, which has won eight of 10 games overall after taking the final two of this three-game series.

■ Braves 2, Rays 0

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tim Hudson scattered four hits over 72/3 innings and David Ross homered to lead Atlanta over Tampa Bay.

Hudson (3-1), who is 8-1 overall against the Rays, retired nine in a row before Ben Zobrist opened the fourth with a line single to right.

■ Brewers 16, Twins 4

MILWAUKEE — Jonathan Lucroy homered twice and had a career-high seven RBIs, and Zack Greinke pitched six strong innings to lead Milwaukee over Minnesota.

Lucroy connected on an 0-2 pitch from Jeff Gray in the seventh inning for his first career grand slam. He also had a solo homer in the first and an RBI single in the second.

■ Padres 3, Angels 2, 13 innings

SAN DIEGO — Pitcher Clayton Richard scored the winning run from first base on an error with two outs in the 13th inning to lift San Diego over Los Angeles.

By taking two of three from the Angels, the Padres had their first winning homestand of the season, going 3-2 against the Dodgers and Angels.

■ Mets 6, Blue Jays 5

TORONTO — Mike Baxter had three hits and came within a home run of the cycle, and Dillon Gee won for the first time in four starts as New York held on to beat Toronto.

New York third baseman David Wright went 2 for 4 with two RBIs and a walk, raising his majors-leading average to .412. Wright also struck out twice, once with the bases loaded.

■ Reds 5, Yankees 2

NEW YORK — Johnny Cueto pitched effectively into the eighth inning, Ryan Ludwick delivered two big hits and Cincinnati closed its extended trip to New York with a win.

The Reds rallied late against CC Sabathia, sending the Yankees to their fifth loss in six games. Aroldis Chapman closed it out as Cincinnati took two of three at Yankee Stadium, right after splitting a pair at Citi Field against the Mets.

■ Athletics 6, Giants 2

SAN FRANCISCO — Collin Cowgill drove in the go-ahead runs and scored in a home plate collision with pitcher Tim Lincecum as Oakland snapped an 11-game skid in San Francisco.